Manifolding



C. W. BRENN MANIFOLDING Dec. 1, 1931.

Filed Sept. 24, 1925 INVENTOR. Carl WBr A T NEY Patented Dec. 1, 1931UNITED STATES PATENT oF lcE CARL w. BRENN, F monronnm, NEW JERSEY,assmnon mo AUTOGRAPHIC REGI TER COMPA Y, or nonoxnn, NEW JERSEY, ACORPORATION or NEW JERSEY MANHOL-DING Application m September 24, 1925.seriai'no. 58,325.

This invention relates to manifoldin devices and more particularly to apack of stationery for use in making manifold copies, especially inmanifolding registers, typewriters, and the like.

An object of this invention isfto' provide a packet of stationerycomprising a plurality of strips of paper of indefinite length,'usuallyeach containing a succession'of printed forms or sheet lengths, whichpacket may be easily and economically manufactured, and convenientlyhandled and used.

Heretofore, it hasbeen the practice in supplying and using printed.continuous stationery for use in manifolding registers, typewriters,etc, to provide the individual strip upon separate rolls or spoolsso'that a number of these rolls could be placed in asupply cabinet,usually forming part .of, or an attachnient to, typewriters, registers,etc., so that the strips might be brought together at the writingpositionin superposed relation for the purpose of making original andduplicate copies therewith. This arrangement,

while possessed of several advantages. such as the flexibility forinterar-ranging the'varlous strips, allowing any oneyof the strlps to bemade the top or original strip, or to per mit any strip to have anyposition in the pile of superposed strips desired by the user,and

permitting the strip to have relatively different form or sheet lengths,has the disad-Y vantage of necessitating :the separate handling of theindividual rolls and separate supporting means for each Tell.

It has alsobeen the practicento collate and superpose the individualstrips,and then either wind them on'a single roll, or trans versely foldthem 1n a pile insuch superposed 40 relation. This latter arrangementhas the advantage of providing a single or unitary pack for handling anduse, but it is'more difficult to manufacture than when the strips 7 arenot superposed. It has not the flexibility of the separatestrip-arrangement, for it is not possible to change the relation of thestrips to each other. Moreover, in use, should there be a temporarydisparity in the feeding movements of the various strips, a bucklingofthe lower strips will result with the result: ing tendency of crinkle,and otherwise become damaged. Again, the stripsvcannot have relativelydifferent form or sheet lengths, for in such case, there will beexcessive payingofl' of the shorter ,form length strips under thecontrol of the longest form length strips.

This invention obviates the above disadvantages, and yet obtains theiradvantages.

According to the disclosed embodiment of this invention, this isaccomplished by providing, as a unitary packet, a plurality of stripseach preferably transversely folded to form a' separate pile,the pilesbeing grouped or stacked and held together in a suitable container, sothat the strips may be brought together, preferably outside of thecontainer, to be collated and superposed for writing purposes. Thecontainer is so arranged that the separate piles of individual stripsmay be re-arranged with relation to one another, so that any strip maybecome the-top or original strip, or any other strip may have any otherposition in the pack desired by the user. Moreover, with thisarrangement Where blank or unprinted strips are used, in conjunctionwith other printed strips, these unprinted strips might be made up inadvance and stocked, a feature which is not possible" with strips whichare folded or rolled in superposed relation. Again, the strips may be'paid-ofi' in relatively'difierent extents,

permitting the use of long and short form lengths.-

3 Another feature of the present invention, L

resulting from the grouping together of a plu rality of piles ofindividual folded strips, is

thepossibility of placing tension on separate sheets so that they willfeed-properly in-the typewriter or manifolding register. According tothe present invention, the container itself is adapted to accomplishthis purpose,

and hence, has restricted openings through which the individual sheetspass and the walls of which the strips engage in being withdrawn ordelivered from the packet.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, which show by way of example oneembodiment of the present invention:

Figure 1 is asectional side view of a manifolding register, showing inlongitudinal section, the manifolding pack of this invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the man foldingpack of this invention,parts of the container being broken away to illustrate the arrangementof the trays.

' Fig. 3 is a perspective-view'of one ofthe trays shown in Figs. 1 and2."

Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of the tray shown in Fig. 3. V v In thedisclosed embodiment Of thlS invention, the manifolding pack comprlsesapolyhedral container 10, preferably rectangular in cross section andhaving. one end closed by a flap 11 formedintegral therewith andoverlapping the top of the container where it is preferably secured by astrip of adhesive tape 12. The container 10 is of such dimenslons as tosnugly hold together, in superposed relation, a plurality of trays orshelves 13, pref erably resting one upon the other as shown 1n thedrawings.

Each tray 13, according to this invent on, contains a pile 14 ofcontinuous worksheets 15, preferably formed by transversely folding theworksheets 15 inzig-Zag order. Preferably the folds are provided in thestrips 15' at the junction of each form of sheet length, for they foldmore easily at these points, because each strip is usually perforated orhas its fibres ruptured at the junction of form or sheets lengths. But,the strips may be folded in any other manner desired.

-Eaeh pile 14 of transversely folded worksheets 15 is held in its tray13 by marginal flanges 16, preferably formed integral with the sidewalls and one end wall of the tray.

When the piles 14L of the worksheets have been placed in the tray 13, ina manner hereinafter described, the trays are stacked one upon the otherin the desired order, and are then inserted inithe container 10.Thereupon, the then open end of the container may be closed by a flap ordelivery end 17, preferably formed integral 7 with the I container 10,and overlapping the top of the. container where it is secured by a stripof tape 18. The

flap-or delivery end 17 of the container is preferably provided withaslit 19 for each worksheet, and located substantially opposite the topof its related tray. Each worksheet-is led through itsrelated slit 19after the trays 13 have been-placed the container,

and before the flap or delivery end 17 has been secured in place bythetape 18.

The slits 19 are preferably restricted so as topermit only one thicknessof'the worksheet 15 to pass through it at one time. Hence, it preventsseveral layers of the transversely folded worksheets from passingthrough it under any condition, even if this were not otherwiseprevented by means to be described.

After the worksheets 15 have been led through the slit 19 and thedelivery end 17 secured in place, the free end of the worksheets arepreferably stapled or otherwise secured together, so as to prevent themfrom being accidentally pushed back through the slit.

It is in this condition that the pack of stationery is shipped to theconsumer ready for use. It is then merely necessary for the consumer tofurther withdraw the strips 15 from the container and insert carbonpaper between them, so that the original writing produced upon theuppermost. sheet will be produced by the carbon papers upon the lowersheets.

If the pack is to be used in a manifolding register, it is placed in theregister in the positionusually occupied by the supply rolls. Forinstance, as shown in Fig. 1, the container 10 is placed in the register20 after the top 21 and the platen 22 thereon have been swung upwardlyin the directions of the arrows shown in Fig. 1 about their pivot points23 and 2. respectively. Preferably, the register'is provided on itsbottom with guides 25 which accurately locate the container 10 inthecorrect position within the register. After the pack has been placedin the register, the strips 15 are led over guide rollers 26 mounted inthe register, and then in superposed relation to the platen 21 wherethey are interspersed with carbon paper in the usual manner. i

In certain types of manifolding registers, it has been found that thecorrect feeding of the strips is insured-by providing friction devices,for placing a predetermined amount of drag upon the strips. Insomecases, separate metallic fingers are provided for this purpose.-However; in the use of the present invention, it is found that the dragproduced by the friction between the strips 15 and the walls of theslits 19 is suflieient for this purpose. IIence, it is not necessary toprovide the ancillary friction devices, thus effecting a saving in thecost'of the register itself.

It should be distinctly understood that a I iii) tersperse carbonpapersbetween the superposed strips after they pass from the container10.. V f k It has been said above that the slit 19, being restricted,allows but one layer of the strip 15 to pass through it, and thusprevents a plurality of layers from passing through it. While this hasbeen found satisfactory, nevertheless, in order to further avoid anytendency or possibility of severallayers of strips being dragged fromthe container at one time, the present invention provides a guard 27,preferably formed integral. with the delivery end of the tray 13,extending inwardly therefrom substantially parallel with the bottom ofthe tray, and, of course, spaced therefrom. The guard 27, asclearlyshown in Fig. 4, makes it necessary for the parts of the sheet locatedadjacent the delivery side of the tray to move rearwardly around theguard before they may pass to the exterior of the tray. That is tor'say,instead of allowing the folded portions of the strip to move outwardlyfrom theitray from their normal ositions the must first'move back goaround the guard 27, and out of the tray. In order to permit the freepassage of the worksheets from the tray when they are stacked one uponthe other as shown in the drawings, the delivery end of the tray isprovided with a cut-away portion 28 through which the strip 15 passes inbeing delivered from the tray. a

In order that the trays may be-made up in advance so that in filling anorder, a printed and folded pile. 14 of worksheets may be quicklyinserted in the previously prepared tray, the marginal flanges-16 do notextend to thedelivery end of the tray, but terminate sufficiently far.short of this end to permit the packto be slipped under them and to bemoved rearwardly into proper position, and when they are as far back asthey then may pass on will go, the flap of the guard 27 is raised toallow the pile to be dropped beneath it.

It has been'found that the trays and containers may advantageously beformed of cardboard, pressboard, or other inexpensive fibrous materialand this is at present preferred. But, it is also within the scope ofthis invention to provide the trays and containers in permanent form ofsheet metal, for instance, so that they may be repeatedly used for thesame purpose, in such cases where it is consistent with economy toreturn empty trays and containers to the factory for replenishing.

It is within the province of this invention, of course, if desired, tohave in each tray 13 a pile of worksheets comprising a plurality ofsuperposed sheets arranged in transverse- .ly folded form.

However, it is preferable that each tray 13 contain a pile of only oneworksheet. so that the trays 13 may be interchanged with relation toeach other in the making up of the pack, or by the consumer after thepack is received, so that any one of the sheets may be madethe topsheet, and so that any other sheet may becaused to have any otherposition in the superposed relation of the strips, which isdesired.This-is a great convenience, especially. where one of the. strips is anunprinted and'plain strip which might be used fora large number ofcustomers. In this case, the plain strip may bepreparatorily made andstocked in the trays 13, so that they may be drawn from stock to makeuppacksin conjunction with other especially printed forms.

Moreover, by this arrangement, the consumer may, at his option, use.less-than the number of sheets contained in the entire pack, this may bedone by foldingthe protruding end of the WOIKSllEQtS which is to-b'etemporarily or permanently discontinued, back into-the slit- 19 allowingthe folded part to still protrude. It will, therefore, be seen that theconsumer need only use those strips which he desires to use according tohis needs. Another and particularly important ad vantageof the presentinvention is that the sheet-lengthsof the several strips may vary. Forinstance, on one strip the sheetsor forms may be 8 inches long, onanother strip the forms may be 6 inches long, and the sheets of stillanotherstrip may be only 2 inches long. These sheets may be fedinirregularsheet lengths at each operation. of the feedingldevice whenusing a manifoldingSregister, such as manufactured by the AutographicRegister Company, of I-Ioboken, New Jersey, or other register madeaccording to the disclosure in the patent to Shoup and Oliver,1,396,070. The use of sheets of different lengths is frequently aconvenience and almost. always a saving of paper, for it isseldom thatthe topsheets and theunder sheets need be of the same length; 7 In caselong and short forms are used, the trays 13 fort-he shorter forms may bemade substantially the length of 'theform, in which casea filler 29 isused to bring the delivery end of the tray 13 adjacent the delivery end17 of the container. This fillers may be a rectangulartube of cardboardor other suitable device. I In other cases it may be preferable to thesame length of tray for all the pilesof strips, and in this case afiller or spacer 30 is preferably "placed in the tray between the end'of the pileaof'stri 'is and the end wall of the tray, so as to bring thepile 14 adjacent the delivery end off-the tray. If conditions shouldwarrant it, the trays 13 may haveany other arrangement than thatshown inthe drawings- For instance. they may be placed end-for e-nd or both;end-forend andstacked. according-to which is most convenientfor theparticular use to which thePackiiS Put. w I 1 1:

- This invention enables the useof wide and i narrow forms and makes itpossible to cor- *ings of the forms are-collated.

and then folded transversely, for in such cases should one of the narrowwebs be located at the extremeside of-the pile, the pile will slopedownwardly toward the other side. Then, when the superposed strips aredrawn off the pile, they will be askew and will prevent proper feeding.q Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of thisinvention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.7 Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new and forwhich Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a manifolding deviceworksheet-magazine comprising a polyhedral container; means in thecontainer for separately supporting a plurality of piles of transverselyfolded continuous strips of paper; and means on one side of thecontainer for separately guiding said strips to the exterior of'saidcontainer,

said container being removably mounted in a manifolding device for use.

2. A manifolding' device worksheet-maga zine comprising a box; traysmounted in the box in superposed relatlon, said trays being each adaptedto support in a pile artransversely folded, continuous strip ofworksheets, and having an egress opening for the,

passage of the strip to the exterior of the box.

3. A manifolding .device worksheet-magazine comprising a box; traysmounted in the box in superposed relation and supported upon each other,said trays being each adapt- V ed to support a pile of transverselyfolded continuous strips, an opening being provided between adjacenttrays to permit passage of the strip in the lower trayto the exterior ofthe boxa 1 4. A manifolding device worksheet-magazine comprising a box;trays mounted in the box in superimposed relation, said trays each beingadapted to support a pile of transversely folded continuous strips ofworksheets; and a closure for said box having slits through which the:ends 'of the worksheets of each pile are initially extended to beseparately guided to the exterior of the box.

a 5. A manifolding device worksheet-maga-r V z ne comprising abox; traysmounted in the box, and adjacent each other, said trays each beingadapted to support'a pile of trans versely folded continuous strips ofworksheets; and means on each tray'extending partially over the pile ofworksheets for confining the said pile of worksheets therein andallowing the strip to be delivered from the pile, the ends of the stripsbeinginitially extended through said means to enable withdrawal of thestrips without disassembling the article. I

. 6. A'manifolding device worksheet-magazine comprising a polyhedraltray for supporting a pile of transversely folded continuous worksheetsand comprising an open top having narrow marginal fianges to confine thepile in the tray, but extending less than the full length of the'tray soas to leave a passage allowing the worksheets to be drawn from the pile.7 As a new article of manufacture, a manifolding device worksheetmagazine comprisinga container, means for separately sup porting in saidcontainer a plurality of piles of continuous worksheets, each pile ofworksheets comprising a succession of form? or sheet lengths and beingformed by transversely folding the worksheets at the junction of eachform length, the form or sheet 7 being sealed so that the strips intheir zigzag folded form are inaccessibly confined in.

said box, said box being slotted to permit the strips to be drawn fromthe box in superposed relation andthe ends of said strips beinginitially placed in position to be grasped by hand before the box issealed.

' Signed at'Hoboken, in the county of Hudson 'and State of New Jersey,this 8th day of September, 1925. V V

v CARL W. BRENN. I

